This invention relates to perimeter seat and safety rail arrangements for a deck or the like and more particularly to an improved, easily assembled space-saving and cost-saving configuration of the foregoing type.
In particular, this invention relates to a unitary bracket assembly for support of both a safety railing and a seat arrangement extending in a cantilevered fashion beyond the edge of a deck or the like.
In the construction of a deck or porch adjacent to a building such as a dwelling place or the like, it is usually desirable and often required by building codes that a safety railing of an appropriate height (e.g. thirty to forty inches) be provided along the open periphery of the deck. Furthermore, seating facilities generally are desirable on the deck and a cost and space-efficient manner for providing such seating is to combine the seat (or bench) with at least a portion of the railing. It is most often the case, however, that in such a combined rail-seat arrangement, the seat projects inwardly from the edge of the deck so that a portion of the deck area is covered by the seat. The loss of that deck space is undesirable and represents an added cost per square foot of usable deck space.
In general, structural and safety requirements have dictated against cantilevered seat and railing arrangements in connection with decks.
Furthermore, in order to provide sufficient strength and rigidity in a railing, it is necessary to utilize lumber of such proportions that the ultimate structure would be both expensive and unsightly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a combination seat and safety rail for a deck assembly which does not intrude on the deck area itself.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a combination seat and safety rail for a deck assembly in which a simple and lightweight but rigid structure is provided which permits a cantilevered arrangement of the seat and rail.